Fiji- Phase 19- Week 3

Bula all!

This week has been a great week for creativity in the kitchen- highlights including Charlotte’s meal of the week corned beef meatballs (genius considering corned beef is a cow in a blender), Anna’s birthday meal of chips, baked beans and chocolate cake and pizza with REAL CHEESE!!
So the week started off on Tuesday with an adventure to the sand spit, which is a 40 min walk round from camp. The weather was beautiful and some amazing photos were taken jumping in the air. We slept out on the deck and stayed up till 12 to celebrate Anna’s 23rd birthday.

Our great newbie (Ciaran) arrived on Wednesday morning and saw straight through our rumours of Hayliegh previously being a man and 3am rat patrols. In the evening we celebrated Anna’s birthday by playing old school party games- twister being a lot of fun.
Thursday- we’re qualified divers yay! We finished our PADI open water with dives at lovers. The almighty blue bure won the weekly quiz- which was slightly easier than the previous week’s medical round.

On Saturday everyone went on an amazing dive to Ariels- highlights included seeing a loggerhead turtle and a white tip reef shark. Saturday night was party night and the theme was Rubik cube which involved many clothing changes throughout the evening with the aim of becoming one colour. Much fun was had by all- you gotta love the bounty!
Sunday- feeling slightly worse for wear we set off in the boat to the village of Kiobo, where we went to church, ate Fijian food and had our afternoon siesta. The rest of the afternoon was dominated by a long kava session in which we were lucky enough to be serenaded by Tui Kubulau who sang many songs from his days at Castaway Resort.

On Monday we pressed on with our Advanced PADI course, which included us doing a navigation dive off the shore and a night dive. There was also a trip to kindergarten in the morning in our village Navatu and we taught the kids the Hokey Kokey.
Tuesday; another section of our advanced was completed the deep dive going to 25m which was amazing.

Lots of love,
Anna and Charlotte
Peace out!

Phase 18 Report- Fiji

Nukubalavu, Kubulau

Phase 18

Staff:
Paul Hinchliffe – Expedition Leader; Dive Instructor
Jade Chittenden – Dive Instructor
Deborah Blaik – Chief Scientist
Karen Smith – Assistant Scientist
Hayleigh Kelway – Trainee
Josh Rowe – Trainee
Rachael Harrison – Medic
Paula Veileqe– Divemaster

Volunteers:
Will Lake, James Fluker, Emily Jenkinson, Ben Thyer, Amy Darby, Ben Swatton, Chloe Whitfield, Meilyr “Gywn” Dixey, Alex Gilby, Sarah Drake, Brad Rogers, Vicky Sinclair, Dani Hayes, Suzanne Roach, Holly Truszkowska, Kristy Foale, Allyce Miller.

Village Life
Our first trip to the Navatu this phase was for Kaya’s 1st birthday party, we were lucky to spend this time in the village celebrating.
Most of our Sundays were spent in Navatu with our families, we did however visit Natokalau and Kiobo for church.
We attended fundraisers in Navatu, Natokalau and also Kilaka, a village we hadn’t visited in over 2 years. Kilaka is the furthest village from us in the district so on this trip we spent the night in the village. On all three occasions there was plenty of food, kava and dancing!

Our village of Navatu held a rugby sevens tournament at Kubulau District School, there were teams from not only our own district but the whole of Vanua Levu. It was a brilliant two day event, the biggest the district has seen in years, the ladies from our village put in a lot of effort cooking for the hundreds of people who came to watch. Sadly Navatu didn’t win but we did manage to come in second place.

For the first time since Greenforce has been in Kubulau we visited the village Cogea in the nearby district of Wainunu, the village is situated up the Wainunu river. As we were unannounced we took kava for a sevusevu and the villagers showed us the hot springs. They then kindly invited us to stay for a kava session with lots of kava, music and dancing, which is generally the theme of most parties here.
The last village event we attended was Paula’s sister wedding in Raviravi. It was very interesting experience to witness a traditional Fijian wedding, but sad to see Siliva leaving our village.
Navatu rugby team
Sightings:
We had a lot of amazing sightings this phase from tiny little seahorses to massive rays.
On a few occasions dolphins were spotted, we even got up close when they swam by the bow of the boat. There were also 2 sightings of a giant reef ray, which had a 2m wingspan and a manta ray breaching on the horizon.
This was also the first phase this year where multiple octopus were found on our own house reef.
Sadly a sperm whale beached itself further up the coast by Kilaka, a couple of the staff then had the opportunity to photograph and help to measure the whale, for WCS. It was 16m in length and by the time we arrived the locals were already removing the prized teeth.
On a positive note at the very end of phase on the way to Namena a couple of Humpback whales were spotted in the distance. One was also spotted migrating through the channel right outside of camp as it breached totally out of the water – Amazing!
On top of all this during the phase we also were lucky enough to see Giant Moray eels, the endangered Humphead wrasse and a few different species of sharks, including a 10ft Zebra shark, which has never been seen before by anyone here at Greenforce.
Beached Sperm Whale

Training and Surveying:
The dive training this phase went really well, a couple of days of bad weather meant that the confined water dives took a few more days than expected but we caught up and everyone was certified during week three.
The science training went smoothly and for the first time we managed to get the 6 weekers in for a few survey dives before they had to leave camp. The science training was the same as last phase with fish species and families being learnt along with invertebrates and coral lifeforms.

With a small number of volunteers this phase everyone got to survey almost every site (including the staff). We managed to collect all the data for both Reef Check and FLMMA and had it sent off before phase had even ended.

This phase started with 17 volunteers but by the end there was only 6 left so the last couple of weeks on camp were rather quiet but no less eventful, everyone made some brilliant friends and they will all miss the Fijian way of life.

Fiji Phase 19- Week 1-2

Week 1

Arrival in Fiji on the 6th October went smoothly considering the size of the group, with only a little bit of baggage trouble. Though a handful had been staying in Nadi, most of us were not so fresh after two days of travelling.

Our first destination after arrival was Savusavu where we experienced our last days of luxury before heading to camp and also had a chance to shop for those few essentials we’d miss before heading out. The journey across to camp on the 8th involved around 3 hours in the back of a truck driving along bumpy dirt roads with only wooden benches for posterior support. A lucky few, myself included, rode in the trucks with the bags and had a slightly more pleasant experience.

Bumpy road journeys were soon forgotten as we boarded the boat for the first time to be ferried over to camp. It was a short trip in perfect weather which put everyone in high spirits when we arrived. Excitement wasn’t over however, as a short time after making camp a tsunami warning sent us all up the hill for safety. Thankfully no killer wave materialised and we soon made our way down.
By Saturday the 10th we were more settled into camp and ready to go to the village for the first time to meet our families, be ceremoniously welcomed to the island and take our first taste of Kava. The villagers were wonderfully welcoming and delighted in filling us with all kinds of tea and cake, something which they continued throughout Sunday after we’d been to church.

Those qualified divers among us have been diving regularly including one night dive which Colin said was “the best dive ever”. The rest of us learning to dive have now finished our theory work and the skills from the first two confined water dives.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed myself so far and with the exception of some illness in camp, I think that everyone is happy and looking forward to the rest of their time in Fiji.

Sam


Week 2
October 12th; sun shining and a bit windy. Everyone passed their PADI Open Water theory test! Then the diving began for the new open water divers. However it didn’t last long due to windy weather. Spirits were lifted a couple of days later when the bug passed and the sun came out again!

On Thursday all volunteers became emergency first responders which prompted many ongoing jokes. We all still haven’t tired of saying “My name is ‘your name’, I’m a emergency first responder!! May I help you?” at even the most minor or ridiculous injury. For example when Vicky managed to get a coconut stuck on her finger!

Towards the end of the week half the open water divers passed the “open water diver test”. Everyone has taken to the Fijian way of life; on Fiji Time, spending time in our village at kinder and with our Fijian families and of course drinking Kava.

So far the days are flying by far too fast and no-one wants the experience to end. Lots of Love from Fiji.

Sîan & Vicky

Fiji- Phase 18- Week 6-7

Phase 18 Blog- Week 6

We started the week with another birthday, this time it was Kristy’s turn to celebrate her special day on the island. We were taught the survey on land on the volleyball court before being put into the ocean to practice surveys on the house reef. We were excited to be putting all are hard learnt science into practise by starting real surveys around Kubulau, after a few ropey attempts we all got into the swing of it pretty well. Debs, Karen and Rachel also went on a trip to help identify a stranded whale that had died further up the coast, it turned out to be a 16m male sperm whale! The smell was VERY pungent when they returned!
Measuring the 16m (52ft) Sperm Whale.

This week we were lucky enough to have our first two fundraisers. Our first was in the village of Natokalau; we had great food, lots of Kava and even enjoyed sober dancing. The money raised that evening went towards an anchor for the youth group’s boat. The second was in our home village of Navatu where we raised money for an upcoming wedding, with Debs, Karen Ben S and James putting in a truly amazing performance drinking Kava well after the others had left for bed!
Saturday was the day of camp clean and fun dives. We got to go to ‘Shark Attack’ (it’s just a name, HONEST!) where we had an awesome drift dive. The food that night was also awesome with beef burgers on the menu following fish and chips earlier in the week courtesy of Paul’s fishing skills- it was a good week for food where we were spoilt rotten! Saturday night we had a Leavers Ball for the six weekers leaving; Kristy, Amy, Ben S and Allyce.
After a Sunday spent in Navatu Monday morning came round all too quickly and it was time for the six weekers to start the journey home, which was emotional for everyone, especially as the rest of us followed Kristy’s goodbye treasure hunt she had set up before heading home. Luckily the week finished on a high note with the return of Gwyn our Medforce volunteer from his 10 day placement at the hospital in Savusavu. But even with his return camp still felt very empty =(

James and Will

Phase 18 Blog- Week 7

The week started with surveys but due to rough weather conditions dives were cancelled. This gave us time to relax in the sun and play some volleyball. Thursday and Friday we all went to the Kubalau 7’s Rugby Tournament, which was two exciting days watching rugby teams from all over Vanua Levu including our very own volunteer Ben playing for the Navatu 3rd team. There was a lot of nice food and of course Kava. A particular highlight was bread and jam. Lots of new friends were made, especially with the North Fijian army who friendly invited us to sit in their tent on day two. Sadly Navatu didn’t win but came second taking away $500, which was donated to the church.
Afternoon nap in the Fijian Army’s tent Navatu 1st’s vs. Natokalau in the semi final

Saturday was another amazing day. With the sea conditions still rough Paul took us down the Wainunu River and we visited a local village. As we were unannounced we took Kava for a Sevusevu and the villagers showed us to the hot fresh water pools then kindly invited us to stay for a Kava session. This included lots of Kava, music and sober dancing. We then went back to a nice spot along the river bank for lunch and swimming.
Farewell from the villagers as we set off for a picnic on the Wainunu River
Saturday night Jade made us chilli and garlic bread. What a treat! Then as always party night commenced with a pub quiz. Sunday we went to Navatu for church. In the afternoon there was Kava and cake to celebrate the rugby and Ben presented the prize money to the church. Monday morning was camp clean and then in the afternoon a fun dive at Lovers. That night the ration run returned with all our goodies which was the perfect end to a great week.

Dani

Fiji- Phase 18

Phase 18 Blog- Week 1

The phase started with a pretty cool beginning! 12 of us ended up meeting in Nadi airport and were disappointed when our flight to Labasa was cancelled due to the plane breaking. We were all tired and hungry and were pleased to hear the airline was giving us accommodation and food until the flight to Labasa the next day. The hotel was amazing with good food, air-conditioned rooms and a big pool. After a relaxing day and night at the hotel we were split up and put on three different flights to Labasa. The next morning we were met by the last member of the group- Brad. That day we went into Labasa to buy some much needed items- Bula dresses and pocket Sulu. That night we ate out at a restaurant in Labasa. The next morning we got up VERY early and did not have the best start to the morning with lamb sausages for breakfast! We all piled into the truck for the 5 hour journey to the nearest point on land to our camp. The journey was fairly eventful with a punctured tire and having to get out to push the truck out of the mud! We were met by Paul- Expedition Leader- who took us on a 5 minute boat journey to our island. As we drifted towards camp we were met by the friendly trainees Hayleigh and Josh who gave us a tour of camp. That evening was spent stargazing on the decking.
The next morning we enjoyed porridge for breakfast! Hayleigh and Josh showed us how to do all the camp jobs and we all worked together to make a sandy path to the toilet during a tropical rainstorm. In the afternoon we went for a snorkel and had a swim test. We also began reading our PADI manuals. Since it was a Saturday, the night was spent playing drinking games and lying on the decking! On Sunday we lazed about in the sun reading our dive manuals. On Monday we were joined by the three medics Alex, Gwyn and Sarah!

By Suz and Amy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 2

The week begun watching the very exciting PADI videos! The already qualified divers enjoyed diving on the house reef. On Tuesday we all went to the village of Navatu for our sevu sevu (welcoming ceremony). For most of us it was our first taste of Kava. This was the day that we met our Fijian families! By Wednesday we all had our completed our dive theory test! We all had a brilliant time in Navatu attending a birthday party. The women in the village prepared a feast of fresh fish, pork and many other traditional Fijian dishes. In the evening fun was had by all with Kava, singing and dancing! On Thursday and Friday the water was too choppy to complete our confined water dives. However, the qualified divers managed to fit in a few shore dives. We also had some lectures on fish anatomy, coral ecology and special species! Friday night was Steve’s last night so a few of us joined in with a goodbye Kava ceremony. On Saturday the water was finally calm and we started our confined water dives. Sadly we said goodbye to Steve. On Sunday we went to church for the first time. After church we all went back to our family’s houses for lunch and an afternoon nap!

Amy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 3

By week 3 everyone had completed their open water dives and we all started and finished the PADI advanced theory in one day! We started working on our advanced dives: boat, deep, drift, night and navigation dives and everybody did well! On Friday it was our first ladies night’ when the ladies from Navatu came to camp for an evening of fun. Many games were played including limbo, twister and musical statues. Everybody had fun and the ladies brought round some delicious cakes!
On Saturday we travelled by boat to the local school to watch the rugby. Some of us joined in with a friendly game of netball and football and Ben T and James were lucky enough to participate in a rugby game with the local team. On Saturday we had a pub quiz and played bure wars. We all dressed up in our bure’s colours and undertook challenges, it was a good night! On Sunday it was a trip round to the village for church lunch and a well needed nap.

Suz
Phase 18 Blog- Week 4

On the first day of week 4, Brad left us and we celebrated Jade’s birthday. We began our lectures studying fish and then invertebrates. We needed to learn some fish to species and others just to family. The 5th August was a MOMENTOUS occasion as Kristy and Vicky spotted a seahorse whilst washing up in the rock pools in front of camp. It’s the first time a volunteer has ever spotted one!
The week was filled with fish and invert point dives and snorkelling lessons. During our spare time, we would be revising. This week we also performed our size estimation dives. This is where volunteers have to estimate the size of many pieces of tubing suspended on ropes between 2 buoys located in the inner reef. This must be completed correctly 3 times with only 20% error in order to pass.
Friday nights dinner was AMAZING- Jade and Karen made beef burgers in fresh bread with fried eggs! This week also saw the beginning of salt water showers as we are out of fresh showering water! On the fun dive on Saturday the second boat had dolphins swimming alongside it which was incredible!
Saturdays night’s theme was ‘Superheroes’, costumes ranged from ‘Wonder Woman’ to ‘Wolverine’ and even saw the appearance of new superheroes such as ‘The Stranglers’. On Sunday, we visited a new village named Natokalau. It’s a beautiful village that practises Catholicism which meant the church service was short and sweet in a beautiful little church. A sevusevu was performed to welcome us to the village, so Kava was being drunk throughout the day. A great lunch was cooked for us including fresh fish, chips and tomato ketchup! On Monday there was the first sighting of the octopus in the inner reef by Allyce, James and Ben S. Today was also the day the staff went to the mainland and bought us back our ration items.

Kristy

Phase 18 Blog- Week 5

Another week rolls on with the return of Paul and a new arrival Rach! If only mozzie bites weren’t so itchy! Scratching = legs full of holes = no diving! This week also brought about the first two Namena days! Namena is a diving area about 40mins away from Nukubalavu (our camp), where everything is just more bigger and better! Forget spending dive after dive searching for big fish, in Namena you can’t avoid them. Half the group have also been lucky enough to see Humphead Wrasse! We also celebrated the 2nd birthday of the phase (Happy Birthday Hayls!), so we decided to head up the hill from camp and take in the view of the whole reef. Looking out from the top we could have easily been looking at a postcard the view was so amazing. Whilst most of us headed straight back down the hill, Will, James and Josh had other ideas and went for a trek through the jungle over the hills and found logs for the evening’s birthday fire. We finished the birthday celebrations on Saturday night with a super-awesome Nu rave party. BRING ON THE GLOW PAINT! A good night was had by all! The normal Sunday visit to the village was the perfect way to recover from the week- CAKE!

Will and James

Fiji- Phase 17

Phase 17
Week 7
3rd – 9th June

Week 7 began with bad weather, which led to postponed diving – gutting! Boat diving was also off as Nic the Nurse being taken to Savusavu Hospital with an infection to the leg. With this, the staff took the opportunity to teach everyone back at camp the Survey techniques used for monitoring the reefs of Kubulau. The following day, with the weather failing to improve, the staff decided to go get a ration run done. In a successful attempt to brighten spirits, an idea of buying a pig from the village and spit roasting it was put to the group, to which everyone (veggies not included!) jumped at! The pig was huge! It was brought to camp and everything was prepared here, just as the villagers themselves would do. Our homemade spit was impressive, and with much help from the boys from Navatu, we subsequently cooked and ate what was the nicest meal on camp by far!!
On Friday, we went to Raviravi village for our second Fundraiser. In the village we played Volleyball and touch Rugby with the villagers. It turns out we are not as good as we thought! The weekend began with a chilled out day for some, and the beginnings of a PADI Rescue Diver Course for others. After a wee rest, those not doing the Rescue Diver Course went on a shore dive.
On Sunday we went to Navatu village for church in the morning and spent time with our adopted families.
The week ended with a pickup in the weather, which whilst lifting spirits, held the promise of better things to come.

Richard & Ed

Phase 17
Week 8
10th – 16th June

Bula everyone, my name is Tomb! It’s my turn to do the blog for this phase and we’re on week 8!

On Wednesday morning a group of us decided to get up at 04:00 in the morning to see the Morning Star or ‘Volasiga’ as it’s known in Fijian (It’s also the name of one of the camp dogs). It was a cloudy night and all you could see was the moon and this huge star rising from the east. It was pretty magical.
It was also Emily’s birthday that day and we made her a card and a cake which we cooked in our concrete drum oven. Trainee was also chosen for Phase 18.
On the Thursday, we woke up to terrible weather and the water was too choppy to take the boat out so all the dives were cancelled. With nothing to do, we decided to play Assassins! This is where everyone writes down a place, a weapon and your name. You then put all these in separate cups and everyone pulls out a person they have to kill, a place where they must kill them and a weapon they must use to accomplish this task. Unfortunately somebody was ‘murdered’ in the first 10 minutes and for everyone else, paranoia just set in! The rest of the day was spent playing darts, Celebrity and just chilling out.
Friday we had a few drinks as the next day we were having a sleepover in another village called Nadivakarua. It was a pirate theme so everyone had stripy clothes, moustaches and bandannas. Mikey had a Fijian style wooden leg, it was awesome. Some went as ‘ladies’ of Tortuga. Lots of pictures were taken it was a mad night, I can’t remember much.
Saturday was an amazing day. First we went to the local school to watch a Rugby tournament between the men from different villages. We ate samosas & rotti parcels which were made by the ladies from all the villages and were soooo tasty. We also had a game of football against the Fijians to open up the days games. We won 3-0, no surprise there!!! But we were all knackered afterwards due to the heat and all being really unfit!! After the days games, we got a truck to Nadivakarua, an awesome village 20 minutes drive from the school. We all slept in this massive house which had a huge veranda, and a flushing toilet! Outside in the village, they had this huge concrete giraffe fountain. The food was so good; we had 2 types of fish, prawns, and really hot chillies. Then we all got on the Kava and had a jamming session with Tui Kubulau, dancing & singing passing the hours too quickly. It was such a laugh and a really good night that we’ll all remember.
On Sunday we had Church in the village and then went back to camp. The truck journey back was mad, riding at 40mph we were sliding everywhere in the wet mud, it was seriously bumpy!
On Monday, the 8 weekers who were leaving the next day said goodbye to their families then had kava back at camp listening to some Reggae music. Good times!
Tuesday the 8 weekers left, Michael, Nat & Miriam, we gave them leaving cards, all the girls cried! It’s okay because we had lentil burgers for dinner, which is the best dinner!!

Phase 17
Week 9
17th – 23rd June

So with surveys well under way, it was time to get as much completed as possible (weather permitting!). Coming into week nine we had half the surveys completed and it looked promising to get all the surveying finished. However, the weather was looking to take a massive turn for the worse come Friday and as such we all pulled together to make a huge push in making sure we could get as many survey boats out as possible while things were good. In a matter of 2 days we got 12 survey boats out. A record number of dives and an awesome effort by Vols & Staff combined. The days were long, tiring, and tough with tides and currents working against us, but let’s face it; we might as well be Superheroes, because we nailed it!
Although the surveying hasn’t been completed this phase, we got as much done as possible with only a few transects needing to be followed up next phase.
The remainder of the week was fitting in fun dives whenever the wind allowed us, trying out new sites such as Tables & Bowls; a site never dived before. It was abundant in Tabular corals that just engulfed the sea bed as well as having many a swim through. It was a sight to remember!
Friday night brought along our second ladies night of the phase. It was our time to say thank you for everything they have done, cook for them and play some party games. Sadly, our food never lives up to the food prepared by the ladies, but hey, we tried! The night was awesome, we danced, we laughed and we all parted with smiles on our faces!!
Saturday was Mr Rowes’ birthday. It was THE shit! The end
Sunday we were off to Navatu for our final church service. As always, the hospitality was second to none. However, due to a Kava ban by the Methodist church in Fiji, Sundays have been short as there are no grog sessions for the whole of June…..upsetting to say the least!!! We love the Grog!!

Josh, Hayleigh & Steve

Phase 17
Week 10
24th June – 1st July

Crazy weather in our last week wasn’t going to bring us down, so we decided to party like we were in primary school. Out popped the games. Doing fake subjects (Theatre) and working on kiddie camps came in handy and out popped out squirt, wink murder and Zip Zap Boing. Just goes to show that all you really need for a good time is good friends and a little imagination.
Thursday was a good day, with a busy and emotional weekend ahead; this was the last big night. Paul sorted us out with real meat, and the cooking operation started. Can anyone think of a better meal than steak, onion rings, jacket potatoes and beans all coated in butter. Real butter. Not bloody Marg. To top of the night we cracked a couple of bevies, and a cracking night ensued. Good music, good food and good company, it’s what dreams are made of. To know it’s your last night with the family that you have lived with for nigh on 3 months is emotional but it beats any night out down your local.
Saturday was our last visit to the school for some rugby. Another monster win for the Greenforce football side (2-1) and the biggest rugby tournament to date. More samosas, rotti parcels, and my first taste of wee wee. Delicious.
After getting camped packed up we made our way to Savusavu, a veritable haven of full English breakfasts, pizzas and most importantly cold beer. After working hard on our food babies we got on the ferry for our last move. Off the ferry and straight on to a bus and a 4 hour ride to Nadi. First port of call was the bar, closely followed by the pool. That night we hit up the hard rock café! Never has a humble burger tasted so sweet. By the time we had finished I don’t think there was a single person who could move for the ridiculous amount they had eaten. On one of the Numerous nights out, at the infamous Ed’s bar, a couple of early leavers got to meet the Samoan rugby team, and keyed off the night in style.
The last days were some of the most emotional we have ever encountered and possibly the saddest goodbyes we will ever have to say. But knowing to be so hard makes it all the more special, and is a credit to the friendships made. This experience has brought a random group of people, from all walks of life, together. And although the phase is over the friendships aren’t. Here’s to phase 17, Good times.

Josh

Fiji update

Phase 17: Week 1- 21^st April -28^th April 2009

Wednesday:
All the volunteers arrived at Nadi bay! We all got together and got to know each other by the pool. We did a brief intro on what the next few weeks had in store for them and Steve and I showed up in normal camp attire - Sulus. That night we all went and had a big meal at the Bounty Bar and filled the whole place!
Thursday:
After a heavy night at Eds bar I had to take the volunteers to buy there Bula shirts, Bula dresses, pocket sulus and other bits and bobs. That night we went to pizza king!
Friday/Saturday:
After a night on the ferry we arrived in Savu Savu where we then got our supplies of food. (That’s a lot of porridge!!) We then started the 3 hour truck journey leaving civilisation behind us. It was good fun! We got stuck in the mud numerous times and had to get out and push the truck but we finally got to Nukubalavu, our home for the rest of phase, only 5 hours after we set out!!
Sunday:

Sunday was our “spag out” day, we set up camp, sanding paths, setting up our bures and settling in, getting to know each other a little better!.
Monday:
The volunteers set off for our local village, Navatu, for our Sevu Sevu (asking permission to stay on their land, being accepted into the village and apologising for anything we may do in the next 10 weeks that offends them). The first test of being accepted into the village was experiencing grog (kava) for the first time!
Tuesday:
It was time for the volunteers to get wet! They had to swim 300 meters and tread water for a few minutes to pass the fitness test and they are now all set to start their Open Water course.

Love Always

Rosser the Trainee

Phase 17: Week 2- 29^th April – 5^th May 2009

Everyone is settled into camp life and so begins all the dive training. With Paul, Jade and our new Instructor Will.I.Am, the volunteers are put through their paces and introduced to the weird feeling of breathing underwater! The Instructors work extremely hard taking one group in after another to the point that they must have aged 50 years by the looks of their wrinkly skin!! Luckily though, we are situated right on the beach and all training diving is done from shore.

Saturday brought about my 24^th birthday. All the volunteers woke up at 06:00 to sand the path to my bure (I live on a hill and it was no easy task!). Buckets of sand falling to the ground 2ft from my face (I’m passed out! Beauty sleep is a necessity!). I then get woken by every one having written ‘Happy Birthday Steve’ in the sand with shells and singing Happy Birthday as I stumble down my nice new path. The staff pooled together and bought me a Guitar (I love it….and I love them!). Throughout the day, we all get a dive in and we prepare our costumes for the Adam & Eve/Back to Nature Party! Hundreds of Doughnut balls are made….some are stuffed full of chocolate (did I mention I love these people?!). Feeling fat…we party, and as the first proper Saturday night on camp, its loud, its crazy, it’s an absolute freefall but definitely a night to remember!

As always, hangovers are always best spent asking for forgiveness in church the next day! :-/ And once again we return to Namalata. Namalata seems to host the first church service of every month where several villages come together and spend time with each other. This always proves to be an awesome event; the food, the singing, the Kava. We are part of this community and it’s what we love about the place. However, the first service of the month is particularly long and the faces of some volunteers were begging for the end!!

Monday, we, as always, run a playschool for the kids in Navatu village. Thankfully, the kids are on a 2 week holiday from School (as usually they board throughout the week) and as such, playschool is heaving! The volunteers had their work cut out for them, but, with a few crayons, and an origami lesson, they’re rewarded with a shed load of cake!

All in all, it’s been a brilliant week for the volunteers to blend into life out here and they’ve all put so much effort in. There seems to be an awesome bond this phase between the volunteers and the community here!

Steve Fitzpatrick

Assistant Scientist

Phase 17: Week 3- 6^th May – 12^th May

The third week started with half the group attempting both deep and navigational dives for their advanced dive course. By the end of the week all divers had attained advanced open water status! YAY!
However, the single greatest achievement of the week, was the production of lentil burgers, by those on dinner duty (including me, cat) it was the greatest meal so far, although it took 3 hours to make!
Saturday was a day of rest and fun dives, followed by the weekly Saturday night booze fest. The theme was 60’s and 70’s with some of the team remembering these eras better than others (Pops).

Sunday, whilst normally a day of rest was spent celebrating mothers day with are adopted Fijian families. We dare you to eat as much tea and cake as we did. We attended 2 church services and were entertained by a Fijian rendition of what we think was the story of Moses. It was an excellent day all round. Monday morning half the group went to kinder whilst the other unlucky half had to clean camp, after this, fish lectures began, wish us luck in identifying fish that look EXACTLY the same.

Pops & Cat

Phase 17: Week 5- 20^th – 26^th May

• EFR course completed
• Fundraiser to Kiobo
• Met the Chief of Kubulau
• Thunder & rain on Friday/beautiful sunshine come Monday
• 1^st Namena trip
• Watched Twilight on movie night
• Palm tree fell down – Kodak moment for a Phase photo
• Fish Identification points

Another week gone & its hard to believe we’re nearly at the halfway point! Many of us have lovely tans to show for our month in the sun. Some of us do not!!

The weather has been funny this week; monsoon like rain drenched us on the way to a village fundraiser at Kiobo. However, by the end, it had redeemed itself with gorgeous sunshine come Sunday. The weather was so beautiful today (Monday) that the first lucky few divers got to take a trip out to Namena. They were all on such a high when the came back, telling tales of turtles, sharks and amazing water visibility that had the rest of us drooling. Hopefully the 2^nd visit will not be too far away!

Another high point of the week was our fundraiser in Kiobo on the Friday. Due to the weather it was not the outdoorsy event we had imagined, but sitting in a small room with a tin roof, drinking lots of Kava, eating cake and dancing was more fun than anyone could have hoped for! We’ve got some real movers and shakers amongst us it seems, and everyone was happy to see ‘THE GUNS’ make an appearance (Naka Sonic!) The chief of Kubulau joined us for the evening - now there’s a man who loves his music! He invited a few of us to sing along and (after an initial panic) much fun was had by all. Everyone agreed it was a great night!

Lily & Steph

Phase 17: Week 6- 27^th May – 2^nd June

This week has been an eventful one, filled with fish, coral and invertebrates revision and yet more size estimation dives!! The weekend started with a game of ‘Capture the Flag’, fortunately no major injuries, just a few cuts and bruises. Saturday night was the last night for the 6 weekers. We had ‘Bure wars’ with various games. “Good organised fun!” The first game was spin stick. This involved drinking beer from a snorkel, spinning around and running across the volleyball court whilst wearing fins.

However, ‘beer pong’ (played with beer caps) drew the biggest crowds, ending in a show down between Paul & Jade for the staff team, against George & Josh from the Chill Out Bure. It was a tense game but George & Josh won, putting the Chill Out Bure in the lead, with the Staff coming in a close second. Good effort guys.

The 6 weekers departed on Sunday morning. It was surreal to wave goodbye to them and it hasn’t properly sunk in that they’ve gone. They won’t be forgotten. The mood was picked up for Nurse Nic’s birthday. We made flap jacks, a rare treat and a better use for porridge oats!

We’ve started learning survey techniques, so it shouldn’t be long until we’re in the water. Everyone is now busy studying for fish tests. Hopefully we all pass this week. Wish us luck!

Annabelle & Hayleigh